Posted
by
Unknown Lameron Monday December 03, 2012 @09:04AM
from the mad-max dept.

New submitter muon-catalyzed writes "Formula E — the new eco-friendly forumula racing just secured a major european city. Rome joins a growing eco-racing scene after Rio de Janeiro agreed to be part of it in August. Additional cities are expected in the coming weeks, this should quickly lead to a solidified race itinerary, the FIA says. Having Rome onside won't get cars to the starting line any sooner, but it may underscore Formula E's advantages in noise and pollution over gas-powered leagues — when its cars can race around the Colosseum without creating a ruckus, other cities (and spectators) might just follow suit."

Yeah, they've actually done a lot to limit how fast the cars go in the last decade or so. They got rid of all the little winglets that let the car have extra downforce, without compromising speed. They limit the engines to a certain number of RPM (18000 I beleive). They even limit how many engines you can use for a season and how many sets of tires you can use. You can no longer replace your entire engine between qualifying and race day, which changes the dynamics quite a bit. It's definitely not a "no compromises" sort of thing.

If they really wanted to level the playing field, they would all be driving the exact same car,

Congratulations, you have failed to understand non-spec racing completely. The competition is between racing teams which include the engineers, mechanics, pit crew, and yes, the drivers. The companies backing the cars are competing. The drivers are simply the public face and the driving part of that competition; you cannot do without them, but you cannot do without anyone else on the team, either.